supau's reviews
25 reviews

Vampire Hunter D Volume 2: Raiser of Gales by Hideyuki Kikuchi
Did not finish book.

Super boring. Introducing the world was fun in the first one, but this is just more of the same with the same semi-awkward language that's probably a translation issue. 

I'll probably try the third one for a fresh start, but I think I might be done with this series otherwise.

Mimi's Tales of Terror by Junji Ito

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Soichi: Junji Ito Story Collection by Junji Ito

dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I didn't like Soichi comics before this collection so I'm not sure why I wasted the money on it. 

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I would like to rate this higher because I liked the vibe and I'm cool to just live with them for a while, but man was it a slog to get through. You could summarize the entire plot in like five bullet points.

Vampire Hunter D by Hideyuki Kikuchi, Yoshitaka Amano

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Never would 15 year-old me expect 42 year-old me to be reading a Vampire Hunter D light novel, yet here we are.

It's nuts. Any book that starts "12,090 AD. It is a dark time for the world" is something at least worth checking out. I thought the world-building was really, really awesome and there were some interesting characters to latch on to (i.e. Larmica). 

I expected to power this one and never again, but I'd totally read another one of these. But first, the movie!

Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside by Nick Offerman

funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.5

His holier-than-thou condescension works for me, and he does such a great job of meandering off topic and back again and dropping little references to earlier thoughts.

Started off so strong, then kinda got into Livejournal territory in the second half. Great messaging though.

Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark
Did not finish book. Stopped at 32%.

Just not into it. Didn't love the writing, story went some places that weren't what I expected and turned me off a bit.

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that changed America by Erik Larson
Did not finish book. Stopped at 19%.

Recommended to me but didn't catch. The Holmes stuff was pretty interesting, but the architecture one did nothing for me.

The Call by Peadar Ó Guilín

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I really, really enjoyed this. Very dark for a YA novel though, no? Like it felt very YA at times, but with very graphic violence and body horror. I read it together with my 12 year-old daughter and there were quite a few times I asked her (and myself): "is this okay for you?"

I loved the tie-in to old Sidhe legend and any time something sounded like a reference to an actual part of the real life myth we looked it up to see how close it was.